Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: bramble on September 04, 2014, 10:58:26 AM
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I have just had my first cold of the winter. I eat well, am not overweight, don't drink, have my 5 a day most days yet...........I can never shift a cold for ages and I feel yuck. I take vit c, omega 3,6 oils and a garlic capsule every day.
Has anyone got any tips on how to shake this pesky critter? Or defensive measures?
Bramble
PS. Pretty sure this is a cold - started with a sore throat and a runny nose........
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Poor you.
I find Echinacea helpful. It certainly shortens the time I have a cold. I prefer the drops that you take in water to the pills. Also Manuka honey.
Hope you feel better soon.
Honeyb
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Hi Bramble, I am generally very good with colds, I don't get sick often at all, but kids and hubby do all the time. I have found that Elderberry syrup is a very strong immunostimulant (also called sambucus here, I buy Sambucus syrup from any pharmacy). Its good to take a spoonful a day even before a cold has gotten you.
Echinacea is also great.
Hope you will get better soon!
Milamam
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Zinc and vit C tabs are a good bet to speed up recovery. I must admit I get very few colds but am a bit of a compulsive hand washer. The first thing I do if I've been out anywhere is wash my hands. It's not just other people sneezing that passes on the virus but what they have touched. Wet wipes or anti-bacterial gel in your hand bag is also a good idea.
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Nope. I hate Summer colds >:( ……… DH uses Lem-sip or those decongestants ……..
:bighug:
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Totally with rosebud57 on this one. Can't say I'm compulsive about hand-washing but am a big believer in a sensible level of hand-washing as a defence against getting colds and infectious diseases. I also pop vit C tablets when people around me have cold symptoms.
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Thanks girls - I am going to try all of the above!
Bramble
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For me personally since I have been having a yearly flu jab my colds are few and far between and don't last long when they do strike. I know the theory that flu jabs don't stop colds but, for me, I feel it boosts my immune system so I fight them off better.
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I saw on TV that children are now going to be given the vaccine via a nasal spray. Great news I think.
We all have the flu jab as hubby is diabetic and needs the rest of us to be protected too.
Honeyb
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I'm a fan of echinacea. I've been taking one capsule, once a week, for years and I never get colds. If I do get something, it will be a very minor sniffle that will literally last about 2 days. I also get the flu jab every year.
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I have had the annual letter from surgery for flu jab, didn't have it last year and only got one virus last Christmas but nothing compared to the previous year when I did have the flu jab and was so ill.
I get more stressed worrying about whether I should have the flu jab ::) each time I have had it I have been ill, just don't know what to do.
OH won't have it because it of it causing the benign brain tumour to flare up three days after the jab.
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The very best thing you can do to stop infections is to not rub your fingers in your eyes or stick 'em up your nose. Anything you touch in the big wide world may have viruses on, like supermarket trolley handles, door handles, hand rails to stairs and escalators, etc. People cough or sneeze into their hands and then touch these things. You then come along and touch them, rub your eyes because you have an itch and bingo, a few days later you're starting a cold. The virus runs down your tear ducts and lodges in your airways and throat.
It's as easy as that and the viruses have it sorted for their own reproduction! So good hand washing with just soap is essential, and keep your hands away from your face when you're out and about. You won't avoid everything, but this will definitely help. Hand gels are fine, but only work on hands which are already infected. They won't prevent more viruses from lurking there, unless you reapply the gel frequently after you've touched any public areas.
Hope this helps!
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I shall have the flu jab. Last 2 viruses resulted in severe asthma problems, the last time resulting in a chest infection and hospitalisation. Before that I had 20 years of well managed asthma. I'm hoping that now I am on HRT, and feeling better that I have stronger defences.
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I have had the flu jab for the last 3 years and have still managed to get the flu every year. Hoping this year is the lucky charm!
Bramble
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Try sublingual Vit D spray with K2 as well as the hand washing , super market /airport trolleys harbour lots of bugs from humans and birds, :D
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Also avoid small children. I have never had so many viruses as when I worked in primary school. Small children should come with a health warning !!!!
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My daughter uses a lot of anti bacterial hand wash. She has a little job in a convenience store. She says that some members of the great general public are just horrid. She has to take money that has been in kids mouthes. From people who smell as if they have not washed for a month and more drunks than you could shake a stick at ;D. She told me today that she regularly asks herself why she is working there......until.....a very sweet regular elderly gentleman came in today with some home grown tomatoes for his favourite shop girl.
She says it makes every one else's germs worth while :)
They say there are more germs on a supermarket trolley than on you average toilet seat :o
Honeyb
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